


You Don't Have To Bend Until You Break

by Katybug1992



Series: You're the Man, But I Got the Power [9]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: F/M, Female Alexander Kerfoot, Female Friendship, Female Mitch Marner, Female Nicklas Backstrom, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Linear Narrative, Women in the NHL, female Tyler Sequin, female claude giroux, female jaden schwartz, female nolan patrick, female robert thomas, snapshots in time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:27:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27705535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katybug1992/pseuds/Katybug1992
Summary: The pressure for women in the League sometimes feels insurmountable and sometimes they need someone to pull them back from the edge, to help take the pressure - self-imposed or otherwise - off their shoulders for a little while.
Relationships: J. T. Compher/Tyson Jost/Alexander Kerfoot, Jaden Schwartz/Jonathan Toews, Mitch Marner/Connor McDavid, Robert Thomas/Matthew Tkachuk, Sidney Crosby/Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny/Nolan Patrick
Series: You're the Man, But I Got the Power [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821067
Kudos: 34





	You Don't Have To Bend Until You Break

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the song "Try" by Colbie Caillat.

1.

Jaden carefully lined her eyes, needing to get the liner perfect. Nothing could be out of place. The Ring Ceremony… If she could get a do over, she would have taken PR up on their offer of a stylist to get her ready for the Event.

When she was finally ready, she took a calculating look at herself in the mirror. She was in a floor length navy dress, a gold ribbon cinching the waist. It was strapless and seemed to shimmer whenever she moved. She had managed to get her hair into an elegant up-do, crystal ended bobby pins holding it in place. Her make-up appeared light and simple and no one needed to know how long it took her to achieve that look. She had stilettos on that she would definitely regret later… and by later she meant in the next few minutes if she didn’t sit down soon.

She took in her reflection in the floor length mirror with a critical eye, hands resting on her abdomen to try and sooth her nerves. Not that she knew why she was nervous. It was going to be a fun night. Maybe it was because she had never felt the pressure to really make herself up. Even for fundraising and charity events, she was usually fine to just wear a simple black dress, straighten her hair, and put on some lipstick.

But for this… She had an actual stylist send her an actual designer dress. She had gotten fake nails that were going to be a bitch when they broke off during practices and games (Kelsey and Molly had made it a big thing and insisted on going to the nail place with her). She had spent a good chunk of the day getting ready and there would be pictures - not just team photos, but really pictures - that would be published in various publications and not just local.

And she felt the need to look perfect for it, not a hair out of place. Her gaze caught on the simple diamond on her finger. The understated, perfect ring that had caught the attention of the hockey world at the ESPYs - she and Jonathan had figured that the red carpet photos would be the best way to let the world know about their engagement. She hadn’t felt this way before the awards.

But, then again, she had had Jonathan at the awards with her. She had had him to tell her she looked good. She had had him to keep her calm, to remind her that he was right there. That it didn’t matter what anyone said because she was perfect to him. And she understood why he wasn’t there tonight, why she didn’t ask him to be. But still…. It didn’t stop her from wanting him there.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by her phone going off, telling her that Schnner and Kelsey were there even before Brayden started obnoxiously banging on her door. 

2.

Nicke knew she should take it easy. After all, they had played a game the night before and practice had been light. And she felt Osh watching her from the entryway. And maybe he needed something, but she couldn’t bring herself to care - the picture she had seen on Barstool earlier was seared into her head as she upped the speed on the treadmill.

And she knew that Osh knew what was going on in her head. Saint Louis had Jaden when he was still there. And she knew he knew what she had struggled with and how she dealt with those struggles. Nicke saw a lot of herself in Jaden and it unnerved her that because of those similarities, Osh seemed to know more about Nicke than she usually let people know from the minute he entered the locker room. 

She felt her chest tighten in relief when he left, even if she knew it was going to result in a heart-to-heart talk with Sasha. She knew she had maybe fifteen minutes before Sasha strutted into the gym to pretend like he wasn’t coming in just to get her stop. To tell her that the article was wrong, that the picture wasn’t accurate - taken at a bad angle.

She let herself finish out her mile before starting her cool down and stepping off the treadmill. She turned around as she squirted water into her mouth to take in her reflection. She wasn’t anything special in her own mind. Her hair had been thrown into a ponytail, her face red and sweaty as she worked on catching her breath. Her gaze fell to the gap between where her sports bra ended and her leggings began.

It was mid-season and her abs had started to come back in, they tended to soften a bit in the off-season like most people (normal people, Nicke didn’t know how Seguin kept hers year round). She ran a hand over them thoughtfully, pinched the bit of fat she could and sighed. 

Maybe she should talk to Osh. He had been there for Jaden’s first few years, had been there when Jaden tried everything she could think of to shed the stubborn baby fat. But Nicke knew, in the back of her mind, that that little bit of fat between her fingers didn’t matter. It would be gone in probably a week at most with the way she tended to shed weight during the season. The photo was taken when she was slouching and wearing probably the least flattering shirt she owned.

“Nickola!” Sasha exclaimed flinging open the door to the gym in his typical overdramatic fashion, “Come, come. I make dinner reservations!”

“Sasha,” Nicke sighed, gesturing to herself.

“Yes, yes, after you shower and change,” Ovi grinned, “I help if you want.”

“I’m disgusting right now,” she shook her head, wishing she had her hair down so she had a chance at hiding the smile that was fighting to come out. 

“I like when you sweaty,” Alex winked, turning her around and directing her toward the showers.

“You coming with or what?” she threw over her shoulder as she opened the door. 

And Alex grinned and jogged after her. 

At least she never had to worry about Alex being attracted to her. She never had to worry about being too fat or too skinny for him. She just had to worry about being herself. 

And if sometimes she occasionally struggled to do that then no one needed to know.

3.

Tyler should have known when GQ approached her for a photoshoot but she was still surprised to see the outfit line-up.

Still, she sat in the chair as her hair and make-up were done, acrylic nails applied (they wouldn’t make it through her training session the next day and she was not looking forward to the pain that would come with it), and dressed in sexy outfit after sexy outfit. Posed in compromising positions, delivered her “smoulder” as Jamie had labeled it.

She was comfortable with her body, a lot of people may say that she was too comfortable with her body. And she felt those criticisms acutely in that moment. Because even when people made it sound complimentary, it never was.

“Oh, I could never wear something like.”

“You look so natural in those photos.”

“You’re so skinny. Do you even eat?”

“I don’t know how a girl who looks like you doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

And so on and so on. Tyler had heard every insulting compliment under the sun. She never looked at her mentions or comments. She had learned long ago that that wasn’t ever a good thing to do. And she knew another round was coming when the photos were published.

So she blanked out her mind as she did another wardrobe change. This time into a too large suit jacket, button done and exposing her stomach and cleavage, and a pair of skin tone panties, giving the illusion that she was wearing nothing under the jacket. Her hair got mused up so it looked like sex hair, they smudged her make up just a bit. And she went through the motions, hitting all her poses, giving the camera a perfect mix of her smoulder and a pout.

She hugged herself, keeping the suit jacket as closed as she could when looking over all the photos taken. Tyler knew she looked good. She looked how she was expected to look. And she knew everyone would be pleased with the photos. But nothing beat the relief she felt when she was told she could change into her street clothes and head home.

And if, when she got home, she collapsed onto her bed and let the dogs all pile around as she let her frustrated tears fall, no one would know but her.

4.

Mitchie didn’t go looking for it. She wouldn’t have even known what to search for to find it. But it popped up on her Twitter timeline - some parody account of Davo she followed had liked it. It was a photo of her in her bikini at the lake, Connor and Dylan’s arms thrown around her. But...but that was definitely not her body.

All of her edges had been softened, her abs softened, her hips made rounder and her boobs...her boobs made several cup sizes bigger. She thought they made some subtle changes to her face and hair. And as Mitchie looked in the mirror she felt that she could say that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the photoshopped version of her was better. 

The girl in the mirror was pointy elbows and shoulders and knobby knees. She was too skinny and while she liked her abs, she had been told by many a random dude on the internet that guys don’t like when girls are visibly muscular. And her boobs… Mitchie liked to joke that she was only one size up from a training bra. She had boobs, she had met women who were more flat than her. But hers weren’t really anything to look at.

She had friends who told her that she should consider herself lucky. She could wear things that a lot of girls couldn’t. But Mitchie had been a size zero her whole life and she had had to make sure that her skill at hockey was enough to make up for her size. She knew everyone joked about being worried that she would break in half if hit hard enough, but under that worry she knew there was an understanding that she could.

Mitchie’s size was her weak spot. But she could never put on weight for long, much less keep that weight. It frustrated her trainers and the team nutritionist. It almost prevented her from making the roster - it had in 2015. The only reason she ended up making it the following year was because of her speed and skill. 

“Michelle!!” Willy’s voice called as he entered her apartment, shocking her out of her own head, “Come on! I’m ready to kick Kappy’s ass at CHEL!”

“Coming!” she replied, shaking her head and throwing on of the many hoodies she had stolen from Connor over the years over her head.

“You okay?” Zach asked as she entered the living room. Auston was starting up the game, Kappy already had a beer open, and Willy was rustling around her kitchen. But Zach…. Zach was watching her with careful eyes.

“Yeah,” she put on her Sunshine-And-Rainbows smile, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

And she knew Zach didn’t buy it. But she also knew he wouldn’t push it. He would just tattle on her and she would get a concerned call from Connor or Dylan or - God forbid - both of them.

So she settled herself on the couch and started chirping Auston.

5.

The news of Claude-Marie and Sid’s relationship had rocked the hockey media world. And it had been outed, which made it more scandalous. And that meant that it was mentioned all the freaking time for the rest of that season. But Claude thought that they had gotten it out of their systems. Until she got her schedule for Media Day.

She had all her individual events as usual, but it seemed that every spare moment was filled with a couples segment. In fact, she quickly noticed she had more events scheduled with Sid than she had solo. The segment that involved shooting pucks at breakable objects that she had thought she would be filming with Coots (had been looking forward to doing it with Coots - even if he was more of an annoying little brother than her favorite A - don’t tell Jake - most of the time).

And for most Media Days, there were breaks but Claude’s schedule was full. She wasn’t going to have any time to breathe. Wasn’t going to be able to take a break and take off her Media Face. She also wasn’t going to get a moment alone with Sid with no cameras present until that night since he was coming in that morning while she and Sean had arrived the night before.

“You look like you’re trying to impress someone,” Sean grinned when she opened her hotel room door.

“Shut up.” Claude rolled her eyes and double checked that she had what she needed in her clutch.

She was wearing a simple black wrap dress and her dagger heels - she would and has stepped on Sean’s foot for annoying her while she was wearing them so it was really in his best interest to keep his mouth shut. Her hair fell in soft waves down her back and the most notable competent of her make up was the red lipstick. And Sean recognized the look for what it was - what no one who didn’t see it on the regular wouldn’t recognize. It was her mask, her safety shield, her way to keep her vulnerability hidden.

Her hopes that there wouldn’t be cameras running the first time she saw Sid were dashed pretty quickly. Still, she straightened her spine and walked over with a bright smile - because she loved him and she had missed him - and wrapped her arms around his neck when she reached him.

“Sorry,” he whispered as he pulled her close, “you look amazing by the way.”

Claude pulled back just enough and gave him a chaste kiss, all too aware of the filming going on.

Media Day dragged on, she was taken from one room to the next. She and Sean played a Who Is Most Likely Game, then she and Sid played a variation on the Newlywed Game, she filmed her parts for the Puck Personality videos, she and Sid did a variety of short, stupid little videos. It was a lot more than she was used to, and neither were fond of having their relationship put out there for the world to see, but the smiles and laughter were genuine. 

They got a short break for lunch - thankfully camera free - before they were taken to a rink that had old tvs, vases, ceramics, pottery, and basically anything that could be broken. They changed into their team tracksuits and laced up their skates and spent the next hour skating around the ice and breaking shit - she walked away with bragging rights for not only breaking the most shit but shooting the hardest.

And as fun as the day had been, Claude was tired. And Sid took one look at her, mask cracking just slightly, and turned down going to dinner with everyone else. He waited as she apologized to Segs for leaving her as the lone woman for the night and made plans to get brunch the next day.

“Come on,” he pressed a kiss to her temple as he slipped an arm around her waist, “let’s go. We’ll get room service.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she replied, “do you need to grab your bags?”

“Already taken up to the room.” Sid replied.

When they got up to the room, Sid gently pulled her flush against him and kissed her, slow and sensual, and she moaned into it - looping her arms around his neck and tugging gently at his longer than usual hair.

“You look incredible,” he breathed out as they separated.

“Yeah?” she replied.

“You know you do,” he chuckled, laughing at her scandalized gasp when he grabbed her ass.

“I’m gonna change, get out of these shoes and wipe this gunk off my face,” she kissed him once more, “You order me food.”

Sid laughed and did as told, but not before swatting her ass playfully as she walked past and letting her laughter wash over him.

When she re-emerged, she was clean faced and in a robe - hair still down because Sid had always loved playing with it.

“Food will be up in about fifteen minutes,” he informed her, soft jazz playing on his phone.

As soon as she had made herself comfortable on the bed, he gently pulled one of her feet into his lap and started giving her a foot rub, smirking as she moaned.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“You don’t have to thank me for taking care of you,” Sid replied.

And she finally felt the last piece of her true self slip back into place.

6.

Alexandria felt like she was just waiting for JT and Tyson to cut her out of the trio. After all, can’t really be a threesome when one third of the relationship is thousands of miles away. Not really. They could still go on dates. They could still be intimate with each other. She… she couldn’t. 

On the first trip back to Colorado with the Leafs, she was convinced they were going to break up with her. After all, they had moved out of their house...their home. They wanted to move on from her, they just wanted to break up with her in person.

Bear had stopped trying to convince her otherwise. Mo had tried to ease her nerves. Mitchie had decided to just sit on her to get her to stop fidgeting. But nothing was easing her mind and it was getting worse the closer she got to Denver.

Still, she dressed like it was any other date with her boys. She didn’t want them to know that she knew. Her make-up was perfect, her thick hair tamed, the tight Burgundy dress and killer heels that she knew JT and Tyson loved her in, and sexy underwear in case they wanted one more go with the three of them. 

What she wasn’t expecting was for Tyson to seem to go breathless when he saw her or for JT to grab her and pull her into a deep kiss as soon as she was close enough. 

When she pulled away for breath, he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, taking several calming breaths as Tyson whimpered. She turned her head to look at him and saw a look of pained awe.

“Forgot how hot you two are together,” Tyson muttered, closing the distance between himself and Alexandria.

“Yeah?” Alexandria didn’t want to let herself hope.

“God, we missed you so much, Allie,” Tyson breathed cupping her face and giving her a kiss that may not have been as fierce as JT’s but was just as passionate.

“So you guys don’t want to break up with me?” she found herself asking when she and Tyson separated.

“God, no, babe,” JT replied, looking hurt that she thought that.

“But… the distance, our home -”

“The house wasn’t home without you, Alexandria,” Tyson cut her off, “We...we couldn’t stay there.”

“Come on,” JT opened the passenger side door for her, “let’s go. Tys was going to try making that chicken pasta you like but he burned something every practice attempt so we’re picking it up on the way to the apartment.”

And Alexandria laughed, getting into the car as Tyson sputtered.

JT got in the driver’s seat, laced their fingers together and kissed her knuckles. 

“We love you, Pikachu,” he whispered, “And if you EVER need to be reminded of that, just ask. We will never get tired of telling you.”

“Or showing you,” Tyson piped up from the backseat, throwing her an exaggerated wink.

7.

Matthew glanced over and gently took Robbi’s hand in his, subtly sweeping the poor remnants of the what paper had been whole and now laid in pieces. He knew what was going through her head. Because to make it in the NHL, someone already had to be the best of the best. But for a woman to make it, they had to be even better. Not that women weren’t ever selected in the first round - hell, Seguin had been second overall - but it just added even more pressure.

So when Doug Armstrong got up to the mic and used the Blues’ twentieth pick for her, her eyes widened and she stood up and made her way up to the stage and Matthew felt pride swell in his chest as he watched her put on that jersey that meant so much to him. She would be wearing his favorite logo and he knew she was going to do it proud.

That night, as they lay in her bed - and he was genuinely surprised that both their families were okay with them sharing a room - he was worried about her. It seemed to dawn on her that she not only got drafted, but she went in the first round.

“What if…” she whispered into the room, on her side, face away from him so he couldn’t see her face, “What if I’m not good enough?”

“What do you mean?” Matthew asked, tightening his arm around her waist. If she wouldn’t look at him, he could at least make sure she knew he was there for her.

“You heard me,” she replied, still not facing him, “Women in the League…. I’ve heard that they only get a certain number of shots to make the roster. What if I’m not good enough?”

“You are,” Matthew had never been more sure of anything in his life.

“But -”

“Robbi Thomas,” Matthew gently rolled her over onto her back and hovered over her, “you’re good enough. Trust me.”

“How do you know?” she blinked up at him, her beautiful eyes full of self doubt and Matthew needed that gone.

“Because I’ve played with you. Because I train with you. Because I know what a good hockey player looks like and you check every box. You’re so good, Robbi.” Matthew tried to make sure his face showed how genuine his words were, “Also, my dad is super impressed with you and you know how hard that is to do.”

She looked up at him for a minute before pulling him down for a kiss, moaning a little when he lowered himself over her.

“Just so I know,” Matthew broke the kiss, “this isn’t because the comment about my dad, right?”

Robbi giggled in response - and, God, Matthew hoped her giggle never went away - and ran a hand through his curls, “No. It was because of you believing in me.”

“I’ll always believe in you,” Matthew replied, “Always.”

8.

Nolan cursed under her breath as paused in trying to salvage the sauce as she hurried to remove the pot that was boiling over from the stove top right as the pan that had the chicken in it started burning and set off the smoke detector, triggering the sprinklers in the kitchen to go off and ruin the only part of the meal that hadn’t gone south, which was the garlic bread she had just taken out of the over.

Finally, the sprinklers turned themselves off and she sniffed as she surveyed the mess that was the kitchen. She had wanted to put in the effort. To make a nice dinner for her and Travis, it was birthday after all. She was going to wear that dress he really liked - the one that he always pretended that he didn’t like just because of the amount of her cleavage it showed off - and do her hair.

But instead, she was bent over the counter crying because she burned the sauce, overcooked the pasta, charred the chicken, and soaked the garlic bread. Her hair falling out of its braid and sticking to her face, the ratty sweatshirt she had been wearing sticking uncomfortably to her skin, and she was pretty sure that she had ripped her leggings.

And that was how TK found her ten minutes later.

“What happened?!” Travis’ eyes were wide as he took in the scene before him.

“A disaster,” Nolan mumbled into her hands. She sniffed as she looked up at him, “I just wanted to do something nice for you and now… We can’t even eat the bread because of the fucking sprinklers.”

“Pats,” Travis made his way over to her, swiping a thumb over her cheek to get rid of the tears that had fallen, “Nolan, you don’t have to try so hard for me. You could have ordered delivery and I would have been fine. Because it was from you.”

“I know,” Nolan muttered, “But Provy suggested it and I thought I would try. I mean, I’ve cooked before. But one thing kept going wrong after the other and… then the sprinklers when off.”

Travis kissed her sweetly and pushed her gently toward her room, “Go take a shower. I’ll clean this up.”

“But it’s your birthday.”

“You can order us sushi when you get out of the shower and let me have the last spicy tuna roll, then.”

She tried to bite back her smile at that because she still wanted to be sad that her plan had fallen to pieces and headed to the bathroom. Her eyes caught something in her closet and she smirked a bit, a new plan forming in her head.

When she got out of the shower, she put the mousse that TK always seemed to enjoy the smell of in her hair before blow-drying it. She had a lot of hair and TK wouldn’t even think twice of her drying it right away, she did it often enough.

“Pats,” TK breathed out when he saw her, brain short-circuiting as she entered the living room in just his jersey, that barely covered her ass.

“You like it?” she asked, biting her lip and trying not to smirk as his eyes darkened.

“This is a much better surprise than dinner,” Travid all but growled as he advanced toward her.

Nolan couldn’t contain her smirk any longer as she let him back her into the room. She was definitely going to try making him dinner again at some point.

“Babe,” Travis groaned as she positioned herself on the bed, on her hands and knees, his name clear as day across her back, “best birthday ever.”

9.

Claude-Marie knew wedding dress shopping was going to be awful. She knew she would hate every minute of it. She knew she would never be able to please everyone in my life. Iz wanted Claude to go for a mermaid style. Her mom wanted her to go for the over the top massive princess gown. The wedding planner wanted an opulent dress. She had already seen several articles about what type of dress would best suit her. And she knew that her and Sid’s wedding was going to be a big story - no matter how private they both tried to keep it. The guest list alone…

But she never thought she would be one of those brides sitting in the fitting room, in a robe, crying because she had no idea how to make everyone happy. Yet, there she was. Everyone’s comments flying around her head, her face in her hands as she tried to will herself not to cry.

She sniffed as someone knocked on her door and she tried to frantically calm herself down, thinking it was the sales associate with the next dress that everyone would have an opinion on and no one would like and no one would ask her what she thought of.

But when she opened the door, she saw Sean there. He had been her person she asked to come to keep her sane. 

“Hey, you okay?” he asked carefully, already knowing her answer.

And when she shook her head, he entered the room and shut the door, wrapping his arms around her and letting her just let everything she needed out.

“G, it’s your wedding,” Sean whispered into her hair when she finally got it all out, “What kind of dress do you want. Don’t think about anyone else. When Crosby sees you in your dress, what does that picture look like in your head.”

She thought about it for a minute and answered his question. He nodded and then slipped back out of the dressing room and Claude carefully put herself together.

“So, I heard this might be more along the lines of what you’re looking for,” the sales associate said as she entered the room again.

And when Claude saw herself in it, her hand flew up to her mouth and this time the good kind of tears formed. It was a simple ivory color with a gold ribbon around the waist, strapless with light beading on the top of the bodice. And when the veil was added she started nodding. It was perfect.

“Is this the dress?”

“Yes,” Claude breathed out, nodding, “yes.”

10.

“Do you… do you ever regret this?” Jaden’s voice was soft and small as she pushed her food around her plate.

“Why would I?” Jonathan replied earnestly, “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”

“I own a mirror and I’m aware that I’m difficult,” Jaden rolled her eyes, “You could have any other woman you wanted. Someone who makes things easier for you, someone who’s prettier, who’s sexy and doesn’t feel awkward when they have to dress up.”

“I don’t want someone who makes things easier on me,” Jonathan replied, “And I think you’re amazing. You’re beautiful. And you’re sexy. And you’re perfect.”

She looked like she didn’t believe him. But she dropped the subject and tried to ignore that Jonathan was still looking at her all concerned and she regretted bringing it up.

+

When they got back to Jonathan’s, he pulled Jaden close.

“I love you, Jaden,” he breathed, eyes shining with sincerity.

“Jonathan -”

“I love that you’re difficult. I love that you keep me on my toes. I love that you hold me accountable and don’t let me get away with being an asshole.” He punctuated each statement with a kiss, “And you’re so beautiful. And sexy.”

Jaden sighed and gasped when he scraped his teeth against her neck and picked her up, pressing a smirk into her shoulder as wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered various threats of what would happen to him should he drop her. 

When he dropped her onto the bed, she looked up at him with wide eyes and he smirked before lowering himself over her and capturing her lips again.

Pulling away, Jonathan traced her lips with his finger and said, “I love these lips. I love your mouth. I love kissing you. I love hearing the noises you make. I love hearing you talk, even when you’re yelling at me.”

“I love your eyes,” Jonathan continued, “I love how I can always see what you’re feeling by looking in them. They shine when you’re happy. They dance when you laugh. They hold a fucking storm when you’re angry. And they can be terrifying during a game.”

Jaden surged up and kissed him again, unbuttoning his shirt and pushing it off of him, running her hands down his chest as he worked her dress off of her.

“I love your neck,” Jonathan continued, biting down lightly on the spot on her neck that was particularly sensitive and he smirked as she whimpered and tightened her grip on his hair, “I love how I can always make you shiver and melt by touching this one spot.” 

Her cupped her left breast and lightly ran his thumb over her nipple and she gasped and arched into his touch, “I love how you’re the perfect size for my hands. And how sensitive you are. God, the night I almost got you off by playing with your nipples alone is a recurring memory when I’m getting myself off.”

He trailed kisses down her chest, running his hands reverently over her stomach, the off-season having softened it just a little, and grinned as she giggled when he lightly ran his fingers right above her belly button, “I love your stomach, even though you're insecure about it. I love that you try to pretend that you’re not ticklish and fail every time.”

Jonathan ran hand down her right leg before grabbing her knee and hooking it around his hip and smirked at the gasp it initiated, “I love your legs. I love how powerful they are. I love watching you skate. I love when they’re wrapped around my waist, around my head. I love how powerful they are. Your thighs, baby.”

He pressed a kiss to the inside of each of her thighs before he gently took her hands and kissed the knuckles on both of them, whispering against them, “I love your hands. I love when you use them on me. You can turn me into putty with the lightest of touches. But I love them even more on ice. God, you have slick hands and your hockey gets me so hot.”

Jonathan pressed her hands into the mattress by her head and whispered, “Keep them there.”

Jaden nodded and Jonathan kissed her again before moving back down her body, getting distracted from his original plan by the sounds coming from Jaden and the drive to get her to make more of them.

+

They laid there for a minute catching their breaths before Jonathan rolled onto his side and threw an arm around her waist, “You, Jaden Schwartz, are incredible.”

“So are you,” Jaden replied, turning her head to look at him, trailing a hand down the side of his face.

“I wish you would see you the way I do.” Jonathan breathed out, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“Well, if you keep reminding me like that…” she smirked, shoving him onto his back and moving to straddle him before leaning down and kissing him.

11.

Robbi stood there in a light pink dress, the bodice of it covered with intricate beading and the skirt was pink tulle that fell to the floor. She felt like she was going to prom and not the ESPYs. And she caught sight of Jaden, in her elegant, sophisticated dress and felt like a child.

“You look amazing,” Matthew whispered, walking over to her.

“Yeah?” she asked, biting her lip, “I don’t look too…”

“You look like you,” Matthew replied.

“But… I mean…. Look at Jaden. She looks -”

“She looks like Jaden.”

“But I look like a child next to her!”

“Well… you are almost ten years younger than her.”

“Matthew!”

“Robbi, you look so good. Did you choose this dress?”

“No, the stylist did. She took ideas from me and Jaden and came back with a ton of different ones and this one was my favorite.”

“Well, it looks good on you.”

“Not too Prom dressy?”

“Robbi -”

“Be honest!”

“...yes, it looks like a prom dress. BUT! It’s very you!”

Robbi frowned again and looked back in the mirror. And Matthew came up behind her, placing his hands on her hips and meeting her eyes in their reflection. He pressed his face into her neck and pressed a kiss over her pulse point.

“I love you, Robbi Thomas. And I love you in this dress. You look amazing and you look like you. And you look perfect.”

“You always say I look perfect.”

“Because to me, you do.”

“You’re the worst judge.”

“I’m extremely partial and I should never be asked to criticize you.”

She giggled in response and turned around in his arms, lacing her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply without any worry about a Fine - Pear was the main one who handed out fines and he wasn’t there.

“Oh, my God!” Joel gasped and Robbi pulled back quickly, “Jaden Schwartz, is that a ring on your finger?!”

And Robbi pushed away from Matthew and ran over, grabbing Jaden’s hand because, yes, that was a rock on her finger. It was simple and elegant, but that didn’t mean the diamond was small. And Jaden grinned, leaning back against Toews as she ignored every question being thrown at her.

Before they left the hotel to go to the venue, Matthew gently took Robbi’s hand.

“Hey,” he whispered, kissing her temple, “do you feel better?”

“Yeah,” Robbi replied with a smile, kissing him sweetly, “thank you.”

12.

Everyone already thought that Tyler was a slut. So maybe she played into it to get what she wanted. Maybe to make sure one of the rookies didn’t get kicked out of the bar for getting too rowdy, she sucked off the bouncer. Maybe to get out a speeding ticket, she gave the cop a handie. 

No one needed to know.

Tyler knew how to use her body to get what she wanted. And, yeah, she knew what everyone thought about her. But their disgust or disapproval was nothing compared to her own.

“Hey,” Jamie sat down across from her at the table, “you okay?”

“Yeah,” she gave him a smile, “why wouldn’t I be?”

“You don’t look okay,” he shrugged.

“Just…. Fucking DeAngelo,” she brought her beer bottle up to her lips and drained the rest of it.

“Tyler -”

“Drop it, Jamie.” 

She didn’t wait for him to respond, just stood up and made her way back to the bar.

“Hey, babe,” a low voice was accompanied by a hand on her ass.

Tyler closed her eyes and took a breath before looking over at the man who had joined her, “Can I help you?”

“Hmmm,” his eyes trailed over her, “I think so.”

“I think no,” she replied, unimpressed with the man.

And she felt a flash of fear when she saw his eyes darken and he said, “You think you’re too good for me? I know what girls like you are like, Tyler Seguin. Fuck their way through the NHL but think they’re too good for anyone else. You, though, you spread your legs for anything that moves. Everyone in Dallas knows what you’re like.”

“She said no,” Jamie’s voice came from behind her and Tyler closed her eyes and let herself take calming breaths, trying to lower her heart rate.

The man seemed to contemplate pushing his luck but decided against it. She winced as he slapped her ass before he left. And the only thing that kept Jamie from doing anything about it was her quiet, “Don’t. He’s not worth it…. I’m not worth it.”

“Tyler -”

“I’m going to head home,” Tyler pushed away from the bar, pulling her phone out and ordering an Uber. When she noticed Jamie had followed her outside she said, “You can stay. Enjoy your night. I’m fine, really.”

“You’re not.” Jamie replied and Tyler hated how well he knew her.

“I will be.”

“But you’re not.”

“Jamie -”

“Tyler. Just… talk to me.”

Tyler looked at him for a minute and then sighed, “When we get to my house.”

+

Jamie followed her through the house as she took care of the dogs. While she got changed, he apparently had as well. And he made her hot chocolate as she made herself comfortable, Gerry right next to her on the couch with his head on her stomach.

And then she just...spilled everything. She told Jamie everything she had ever kept in. She told him about everything she did, about all the shit she got for it, about how she felt during and after.

About how empty she felt. 

And he sat there and listened and didn’t judge her. Because Jamie had never judged her - not even when he picked her up from the airport the day she arrived in Dallas - hungover and mascara streaks barely hidden by her sunglasses. 

And he told her that she was none of the things she thought she was. And it didn’t fix anything right away, and Tyler wasn’t magically fixed because it (not that Jamie would ever let her call herself broken), but it went a long way to know that Jamie - the one of the only people in her life whose opinion of her mattered to her - didn’t think negatively of her for anything.

And the next time she got called a whore during a game, Jamie punched the guy.

13.

Mitchie was the hometown girl. The first woman ever drafted by the Leafs in the first round. And she had always been someone who hated seeing the people she loved struggle. 

So she put the team on her back most nights, doing what she could to take any and all pressure off of her teammates’ shoulders - especially off of Auston’s shoulders. She had watched the weight of being the first overall, hope of the franchise, slowly crush Connor under its weight and she wasn’t going to let that happen to Auston.

She never left anything on the ice ever. Practice, scrimmage, game - it didn’t matter. She did every presser in the hope that Auston wouldn’t have to do as many. She said yes to everything the Leafs asked her to do. She became the most media trained of the Leafs - even the vets. 

And she perfected a media smile. The smile that became her armor. The smile that fooled everyone - her family and teammates included. And maybe it didn’t fool Connor or Dylan, but it was easy enough to distract them usually. And if they were being particularly stubborn about being worried about her, she would say she needed to go and hang up. It was easier to lie to herself that she was fine when she didn’t have to acknowledge that she wasn’t.

But it was a lot to take on. And it was a lot of weight on her shoulders. And sometimes she needed to spend her off day in bed, not needing to put on a show for anyone. 

“Michelle! Light of my life!” Mitchie groaned as Willy’s voice ran through the apartment and she regretted giving him a key and she threw the comforter over her head. She forgot sometimes that Willy grew up around Nickola Backstrom - one of the OG Queens of Suppression.

“Hey, Mitchie,” Zach’s voice was soft from her doorway and she looked pulled the blankets down to see him and Willy standing in her doorway.

“Please, I just want -” Mitchie sniffed, hating that she could already feel herself on the verge of crying.

“We know,” Willy replied, “that’s why we’re here.”

“You won’t let us help you carry the weight, so let us carry you for a bit,” Zach added.

Mitchie found herself nodding as her tears started falling. Willy and Zach immediately surrounded her and she curled into Zach’s chest and let herself cry.

14.

Nicke had bent to every request Caps PR made of her. She grew her hair. She straightened it as her curls made her hair frizzy. She put a little more blonde in her hair. She carefully applied make-up before she would be on any kind of camera, even personal. She did the media training, she put on the smile, she answered stupid questions without complaint.

And Micheal had watched her struggle with it. She was so young. And he knew that she was part of the future of the Caps, along with Ovi and the other “Young Guns”. 

She was easily the most mature of them, kept them from getting into too much trouble. She took herself seriously and he didn’t know if it was her personality or if it was the pressure for her to be picture perfect. But the young woman who showed up to the rink was different from the girl who spent her free time playing pingpong with his kids.

But then something shifted. Nicke became lighter, she loosened up and let herself relax. And Michael was sure it had something to do with Ovi. He would watch them together occasionally. He would watch Ovi try with all his might to get a smile - or even more challenging, a laugh - out of her. And he noticed that PR had definitely picked up on it.

And he was relieved to see that it didn’t make her revert. That her bond with Ovi seemed to reinforce her backbone. She no longer entertained ridiculous or insulting questions. She started to voice her actual thoughts more. She occasionally dropped the media facade and introduced the word to her murder eyes and Michael actually felt bad for the guy that got the full brunt of that look the first time it happened.

Because she was media trained, yes, but now it was time for the media to be Nickola Backstrom trained. And with her and Ovi being the futures of the team, PR seemed surprisingly okay with the change. 

Michael retired, moved his family back to Sweden, and kept an eye on Nicke from afar. Kept an eye on her as she met Ovi at every milestone. Kept an eye on her as she suffered a very public breakup and Ovi refused to let her do pressers alone.

He could hardly reconcile the rookie he knew with the woman she was now. Confident, not to be messed with by anyone, and aware of her worth.

And he knew he had her relationship with Alexander to thank in part for that. Because Alex being as over the top in everything as he was allowed for Nicke to be more comfortable with herself.

15.

Nolan had bad days. And when those days fell on off days, she just wanted to stay in bed. And on those days, TK would do anything she asked him to. He would leave. He would make her food. He would get G. Anything.

And when she woke up that morning, chest heavy and eyes fighting her as she tried to open them… she was grateful she didn’t have to fight through this. That they had the day off.

“Morning, babe,” TK muttered as her movement seemed to wake him up. Then, immediately sensing that something was not right, asked, “What do you need me to do?”

“Just hold me?” Nolan’s voice was soft and unsure, like TK had ever denied her anything.

“Yeah,” Travis replied, wrapping an arm around her waist and getting comfortable again, “Let me know if you need anything else.”

16.

Alexandria had heard the horror stories of Toronto Media. But nothing prepared her for PR pulling her aside before her first presser and the stylist getting to work on her hair and makeup. 

She definitely wasn’t expecting them to give her a time and place to show up the next day to go over hair and skin care, what her everyday make-up look should consist of, and a deep dive into her style choices. She was sent home with several new outfits and informed someone would be by to go through her current wardrobe and to expect several items to be sent and to replace what would inevitably end up being tossed.

“You’re not in Denver anymore,” one of the PR assistants said when she had questioned why that was necessary, “You’re in Toronto. And in Toronto, you don’t go anywhere without being recognized, without having your picture taken. We learned early on with Mitchie that when a bad picture is captured, a bad, speculative story or several come out shortly after.”

And then she was told that under no circumstances could the Media find out that she was part of a trio. Not that she had any plans to let that out of the bag, but it was relayed to her that there could be no speculation.

“You can either be with one of them publicly or you can be publicly single, it’s your choice.” she was told.

And normally when she was feeling like shit about herself, she would call her boys. But just… couldn’t. 

What she wasn’t expecting was to find Morgan waiting for her outside her apartment. And she couldn’t find anything to compare to the wave of relief she felt rush over her at the site of him.

“Mitchie warned me it might have been a hard day for you,” Mo said, pulling her into a hug.

She sniffed and pressed her face into shoulder as she started to cry out every single emotion she had felt the entire day.

17\. 

Claude-Marie felt a weight lift off of her the minute she entered Sid’s house. It was always a weight she never really knew she was carrying until it was gone. She knew the pressure on her, to try and pull her team into the play-offs every year, to be the first female Captain in the NHL to lift the Cup. To make Philly proud and make the organization not regret making her the Captain, make her team not regret putting their faith in her. Because she knew her team would follow her to war. They had. And that - knowing that she had the unwavering support and loyalty from her team - put so much weight on her to prove herself worthy of it.

But Sid…. Sid never expected her to be anyone she wasn’t - anyone she couldn’t be. She didn’t need to be Claude-Marie Giroux: Captain of the Flyers and the only female Captain in NHL history. Which…. Yeah, that was a lot of pressure on her. With Sid, she just needed to be Claude-Marie….just needed to be Marie - and if anyone but Sid called her that, they would get her deadliest glare.

“Are you…” she asked, taking her coat off and hanging it up in his closet, “Sidney Crosby, are you cooking??”

Sid laughed as she walked over to him, kissing her sweetly before plating up the last of the asparagus. 

“It looks good,” Claude-Marie hummed.

“You look good,” Sid replied, pressing a kiss to her neck.

“You keep doing that and we’ll be eating it cold.”

“I can stick it in the oven to heat it up.”

“Sid, I’m hungry.”

“Fine.”

She laughed as he picked up the plates and ushered her to the dining room - where the table was set with roses and candles.

“So, what’s the occasion?” Claude asked, sitting down and accepting the kiss Sid dropped on her lips as he set her plate down, “I know it’s not an anniversary or a birthday so what’s up? You don’t brave past cooking chicken for no reason.”

“Maybe I just wanted to do something special for you,” Sid replied, “You’ve had a hard couple of weeks.”

Claude-Marie blushed and took a bite of the filet mignon in front of her. She hummed happily, “This is good.”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I CAN cook.”

“You CAN, but you don’t.”

“You’re not much better.”

“How many terrible meals did you make your rookies taste test for you?”

“....five.”

Claude laughed and Sid lit up at the sound. She smiled softly at him and said, “Thank you.”

Sid brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles, “You never have to thank me for caring about you.”

18.

Connor had spent almost half his life worrying about Michelle Marner. She was small, she was too hard on herself, and she was too trusting. Her first instinct was always to worry about everyone else and put herself last. And Connor was helpless to do anything but watch as five years of that piled on top of her and threatened to crush her.

And he knew that she had a couple teammates who helped to pull her from the ruble when everything crashed down on her. But it was not the same as being there to help her in person, to take care of her. And he briefly thought about talking to her about a trade to Edmonton, but he knew that was his own selfishness. 

Mitchie loved being a Maple Leaf. And she loved her team. She loved supporting them. 

So the minute she arrived at his house in Edmonton - spending the night and she had told her team to fuck off when they made suggestive comments and had a big not-fight-fight with Auston because he still had no made a move and was jealous of a relationship that wasn’t romantic - he hugged her tightly and ushered her into the living room.

“You hungry?” he asked as she made herself comfortable on the couch, immediately slipping out of her shoes and wrapping the blanket around herself.

“I’m always hungry,” she replied.

“Good,” Connor chuckled, settling down next to her, “because there’s a shit ton of Thai on the way.”

“You know me so well,” Mitchie grinned as she settled himself against his side.

Connor smiled in response. Because after all these years, and all the time spent apart, he still knew how to make her happy, make her comfortable, make her feel normal.

“So…. you wanna get the serious talk out of the way?” she asked.

“If you want,” Connor replied.

And she took a deep breath and just unloaded everything she had been keeping in. Telling him about the pressure - real and self-imposed, about how isolated she felt half the time because one on the team GOT IT when it came to what she went through being a woman in the league - but also being a YOUNG woman in the league, and about Auston and how she didn’t know how much longer she could wait for him - IF she even wanted to wait for him.

And Connor just listened. He didn’t try to fix it, like Zach did. He didn’t try to cheer her up, like Willy did. He didn’t get angry and rail against everyone who had ever hurt her, like Dylan did. 

He just listened, calmly, and let her get everything out. Let her sort through her own feelings about everything. He kept his arms around her and let her cry into his chest when she finished. And when she had cried herself out, he asked, “Do you want me to tell you what to do?”

She just shook her head and sniffed, “No. Just… keep being my person?”

“I will always be your person Michelle,” Connor pressed a kiss to her head, “Go on upstairs. Wash your face and change. Food should be here soon.”

She pulled back and gave him a watery smile before kissing his cheek and grabbing her backpack, heading for the stairs.

When she got back downstairs, Connor had an episode of The Office pulled up and the food scattered across the coffee table.

“You still have that?” Connor chuckled when he saw her.

And she grinned, looking down at her leggings and Connor’s old Otter’s hoodie, “Duh. It’s warm and soft and it’s my favorite.”

Connor shook his head, smile fully out, and handed her a plate, “Come on, no way I can eat all this alone.”

“Well,” Mitchie grinned, “I am a champion eater.”

And Connor laughed. Mitchie wasn’t fixed, she was still a little broken, but she was healing. And Connor would continue to help her heal. Because he was her person and she was his. 

19.

Robbi didn’t have much time to see Brady after their game in Ottawa. So she rushed through her post-game routine and as soon as she was out of the locker room, she saw Brady waiting for her and she launched herself at him, starting to babble a mile a minute and knew he was catching every word. 

Because if there was one thing that the Tkachuk boys could do just as well as hockey, it was deal with Robbi. So he listened to her as she rushed to get it all out in time. Because just because the team didn’t want to put pressure on her yet, didn’t mean that she didn’t feel that pressure.

It was a talk she and Walt had a lot. That she was good, and she was going to be an Elite player in the League. But the team was very methodical about how far and how much to push her. But she was determined to prove that she could handle it while at the same time being terrified of letting everyone down.

And Walt was good at listening but bad with crying. Chantal was good with crying but bad at understanding. Matthew…. Well, Matty tried. He really did. But it also didn’t help that part of the pressure she put on herself was proving that she was more than Matthew Tkachuk’s GirlfriendTM.

But Brady was good at all of it. And at the same speed that she was talking, he was responding. Because Matthew may be her boyfriend but Brady was her best friend and he always knew what to say to her.

And she felt better by the time she had to get on the bus.

She still took the seat next to Jaden and pushed into her space and gave a small smile when the older woman tried to repress her fondness and lifted her arm up so Robby could cuddle in.

20.

“Hey, kid,” Coots greeted, entering the video room and finding that Nolan was the first one there, already analyzing her own tape from the game the night before. He took in her body language and he immediately recognized it. After all, he had seen G look that way hundreds of times.

“Hey,” she mumbled, not looking up from the tablet.

“Okay,” Sean sighed, sitting down next to her and taking the tablet from her, “I know this song. I’ve heard G sing it a million times. So we’re going to skip right past you lying to me about being fine and you’re going to come out and say it.”

“I went second overall,” Nolan mumbled, “I went second overall and every day I feel like I’m fighting to prove that I wasn’t a wasted pick.”

Sean took a minute to think about his response. Because as many times as he had been there for G, the first few times he was shit at it and really just made her feel better by being so terrible at comforting her. But as the years had gone by, he learned the best way to comfort Claude.

But Nolan wasn’t Claude-Marie. Nolan was so young, not even twenty. Nolan had all eyes on her. Nolan had additional media attention (positive and negative) because she and Hirschir were close but she and TK had been together for about a month at this point and people liked to try to create drama.

“Nolan,” Sean paused until she looked at him, “you ARE good.”

“But -”

“I know it, the team knows it, Coach knows it,” Sean cut her off, “G brags about you, when we have dinner with Danny. She brags about you to anyone who will listen. She wouldn’t do that if you weren’t good.”

“Yeah?” Nolan bit her lip and looked over at him. 

And that’s when Sean knew what the problem was. Nolan wasn’t scared of letting down the team. She was scared of letting down Claude-Marie.

“Yeah,” Sean replied with a grin, “she sees a lot of herself in you. And so do I.”

And Nolan let a small smile out and Sean gave her a fist bump before TK came bouncing into the room and immediately over to Nolan.

And Sean stood up and moved because he did not need to be there for TK’s flirting. It was too early in the morning to experience that mess.

21.

Brayden paced in front of Jaden’s hotel room, wishing Kelsey hadn’t told him what she had found in Jaden’s bathroom. He really did. He also wished that Kelsey had talked to Jaden instead of telling him and telling him he needed to talk to her.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door and when Jaden opened it, he said, “I think we need to talk.”

She gave him a confused look but let him in, pulling the sleeves of the hoodie that was clearly Jonathan’s over her hands as she sat back on the bed.

“Kelsey…. Kelsey found…” Brayden took a deep breath, “Last time we were over at yours… there was a pregnancy test in your bathroom.”

“Oh.” Jaden’s eyes went wide and she hugged her knees to her chest.

“So….”

“I’m not,” she immediately cut him off, “I took it before we left but… I thought there might have been…. A small chance.”

“And how do you feel about that?”

“I mean…. Jonathan and I… we’ve talked about wanting a family. Someday. But… that day is not today.”

“You know, you could have talked to me.”

“I was scared…. And the only person I wanted to talk to was Jonathan but we kept missing each other. And I want a family with him so bad. I love him so much. And I just felt like… I felt like I had to choose between him and my career for the first time ever and I hated that feeling so much and I didn’t need anyone to see me feeling it.”

“Jaden, you and I have been through so much together and apart. We have been there for every high and every low in each other’s lives. And I will ALWAYs be there for you - with no judgement. You can always come to me.”

Jaden sniffed and stood up, wrapping her arms around Brayden and letting him hug her as she started to cry.

22.

Tyson entered Alexandria’s apartment, using the key she had given him for emergencies. Apparently, she hadn’t been responding to JT or Josty, who escalated it to EJ and Nate who then escalated it to Gabe who escalated to Tyson since he was the one in Toronto. 

And Tyson had not expected to find her dressed in a red cocktail dress and staring at her reflection in her room.

“Alexandria?” he asked, snapping her into reality.

“What are you doing here, Tyson?” she asked and Tyson was a little taken aback by the iciness in her tone. 

“Are you okay? No one’s heard from you in -”

“Why do you care?” she spun around and glared at him, “You haven’t given a crap about me since we got here. You told me, promised me, that you would be there if I needed anything. But you haven’t been. I’ve been ALONE dealing with the change. It doesn’t matter for you that Media attention has increased. I can’t go ANYWHERE without looking one hundred percent together. I have to smile for cameras even when I don’t want to. I have to think so hard about my words before I say them. I can’t say or post ANYTHING alluding to my relationship. And I thought I would at least have YOU. But I was wrong.”

“Alexandria,” Tyson tried to find his words.

“I’ve never felt this alone. Ever.”

And Tyson didn’t know how to respond. But his heart broke while looking at her. Seeing her look so raw and hurt and unlike he had ever seen her look before.

Taking a deep breath, he said, “I know I can’t fix this. But… let me start making it up to you. How about dinner tonight?”

“I can’t,” she sniffed, putting a pair of diamond stud earrings in and doing one last hair check, “I agreed to do a Charity auction so that Mitchie didn’t have to and as a result, I will be spending the evening with some rich guy’s son.”

“Tomorrow, then.” Tyson replied, “And…. text your boys… and Nate, EJ, and Gabe. They’re worried about you.”

+

Tyson showed up at Alexandria’s with way more Indian food than either of them could possibly eat. And the two of them had the long, hard conversation that they needed to have.

It didn’t make up for him completely disappearing on her, but cleared the air between them.

23.

Andre didn’t notice it when he was in Washington, but being in Colorado was a different story. He was watching Nicke do a presser because he missed Mama. And he didn’t know if it was the distance or something else, but he couldn’t help but notice that Nicke looked like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

And every presser he watched after that, it looked like the weight was getting heavier. So he asked her to meet him at the airport when the Avs plane landed, rather than him stopping by the hotel before meeting her for dinner.

He ignored the eyes of his teams as he all but ran to Nicke, hugging her tightly and lifting her up.

“Put me down,” Nicke tried not to laugh and Andre grinned widely.

“Missed you, Mama,” Andre grinned down at her.

“Missed you, idiot,” Nicke rolled her eyes, “Now come on. We have reservations.”

“We do?”

“Well, Willy refused to not be included and Ovi told me that if Willy was going, he should go. And then he made a reservation.”

Andre laughed and got in the car, smiling when Nicke started the car and the playlist Andre always insisted on came through the speakers. 

“Hey,” Andre looked over at Nicke, turning the music down.

“Are you okay?” Nicke asked, concern flitting across her face.

“Yeah,” Andre nodded, “are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nicke, I’m not a rookie anymore. And I know you.”

“I’m fine, promise,” Nicke replied, “Some days are better than others and with my contract… it’s all anyone wants to ask me about these days. Once I have that done…”

“Well… I mean, I know you think of me as your kid, but…. Just… you CAN talk me about things that are bothering you. You’re still my favorite hockey player in the League. And above that, you’re still my favorite person. You’re my hero, Nicke.”

“Shut up.”

And Andre laughed because he could see her fighting a smile. And he could see her looking a little lighter. And he felt like he had done what he set out to do.

24.

Tyler sometimes forgot that she didn’t have to be picture perfect around her teammates. 

She could wear jeans and a hoodie. Leggings and a sports bra. A ratty t-shirt and sweats.

Her hair could be a disaster and she didn’t have to wear make-up.

She could just be herself. She could be messy. She could be angry. She could be sad. 

And she sometimes forgot how much she needed that until she got reminded. 

25.

Nicke grinned as she opened her front door, hugging Claude-Marie before inviting her inside. She had kicked Ovi out for the night so that she and G could catch up without interruptions.

“So, I got pizzas,” Nicke led the way to the kitchen.

“What’s the occasion?” Claude asked, laughter shining in her eyes.

“Well,” Nicke handed her a plate, “a little birdie told me you’re engaged.”

“.....Geno has a big mouth,” Claude grumbled. But her smile came out as he lifted her hand up and showed off the ring - the ring that had been passed down in Sid’s family for years.

“Oh, my God!” Nicke’s eyes widened and she examined the ring, “How did he do it?”

“He filled the patio with candles and rose petals,” Claude huffed, rolling her eyes and trying and failing to pretend it was way too over the top for her taste, “He had a projector showing a video of our relationship - pictures, clips, home videos - and he had a voiceover of himself narrating it. And when it ended, he knelt down in front of me and asked me to marry him.”

“Did you cry?” Nicke grinned, laughing as Claude nodded, “I’m so happy for you.”

“Yeah?” Claude asked, looking unsure.

“I know I haven’t always been….supportive… but you and Sid? That’s epic. I mean, you guys have gone through hell separately and together. And he gets it. He gets what you go through. And he has never let you fade. And he is perfect for you.”

“He is,” Claude smiled down at the counter, “He is.”

“And I will support you in whatever you need. But I will not help you with the nightmare of planning that wedding.”

And Claude let out a loud belly laugh.

26.  
Mitchie and Alexandria had begged off going out with the team in Tampa, deciding instead to order every dessert room service had to offer and pull the comforter off the extra bed, setting it up on the balcony to enjoy the warm breeze and the sounds and smell of the ocean.  
“So… your boys?” Mitchie asked, taking a large bit of the cheesecake.

“If I tell you about them, will you tell me about you and Auston?” Alexandria raised an eyebrow, laughing when Mitchie nodded in response.

“We…. we just woke up one day and realized that we were basically a couple without the sex,” Alexandria bit her lip, “I mean, every time I try to figure out when or how it started, there’s not a clear answer.”

“That’s all you’re gonna give me?!”

“I mean… they’re romantic. Tyson is all mushy words at not totally appropriate times. Like...the first time he said ‘I love you’ to me and JT was in the middle of a fight.. And JT’s way of expressing his feelings is through action. So, like, Tyson is most likely to plan out a date night and make sure that there are flowers and candles involved. JT is more likely to have Tyson hold me in place while he eats me out for an hour or… they once turned our living room into a night club so that we could dance without any risk. And… they want to be able to talk to me about my interests. So if I’m reading a book, they’ll do minor research into the subject because they want me to know they care but they also really want to just… let me talk about it.”

“And the sex?” Mitchie grinned, wiggling her eyebrows, “You mentioned -”

“It’s good,” Alexandria replied, biting her lip blushing, “It’s…. It’s really good.”

“Oh, come on!” Mitchie whined, “I tell you about my hook-ups!”

“No, you tell me about how disappointing your hook-ups are.”

“Please?”

“Fine,” Alexandria sighed, face-washing Mitchie to try to wipe the pout off of her face, “So, like… JT likes to be in charge, right? Which is fantastic in and of itself. Um...but… occasionally… he hands it over, for a little bit at least. Like for Tyson’s birthday, he asked JT to just watch. And Tys… he never takes control but… I mean… he laid me out and… look, he’s very good with his hands and I’m already pretty sensitive and he’s also really good at dirty talk, so….”

“How are you holding up without them?”

“I mean… it’s hard. But, like, I text them all the time. We have FaceTime dates, skype sex isn’t as good as the real thing but it works. I miss them constantly. Like, it’s this pain that just never goes away. And I know they love me and I know they miss me just as much. But they still have each other and I… I don’t have anyone. Bear… he disappeared on me when we got to Toronto. And, just like that… I didn’t have anyone really. I mean, Morgan and I… we go back. But sometimes I think Morgan still sees the girl - smaller than anyone else on the ice - desperate to prove that she was better than the boys. So… he’s not exactly helpful.”

“Well, you have me,” Mitchie squeezed Alexandria’s hand, “I mean, I can’t fully relate. The two guys in my life, I’m more pulled between.”

“Spill.”

“Auston and I…. He wants me. But he doesn’t want to be in a committed relationship. But he doesn’t want me to see anyone else. But he won’t… and he gets pissed off when I pick Connor over him. Like… If I turn down going to lunch or to dinner with him in favor of calling Connor or whatever. And while I did have… romantic feelings for Auston at some point… I can’t tell if I still have those feelings because I really do like him or if it’s because everyone expects me to end up with him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.” Mitchie rolled her eyes.

And, yeah, Alexandria noticed. She noticed that Mitchie and Auston were pushed together pretty often - at photo shoots, events, even walk-ins. And she saw the appeal - The Hometown Girl and The First Overall Pick, two-thirds of the Three Headed Monster, the Futures of the Organization… she could see why marketing them as a couple would be a PR and Marketing dream. And Mitchie… Mitchie was good at faking happy.

“Okay… putting aside what everyone else thinks, what do you want?” Alexandria fixed her with a look.

“I…” Mitchie trailed off, thrown by the question, “I… I don't think my feelings for Auston are real. Not anymore. I think he’s an asshole. I mean, he’s still one of my best friends. And he always will be. But I think if we keep going down this path, that I’ll start to hate him. Because there’s only so many times I can watch him choose someone else over me without resenting him or thinking he’s just doing it to hurt me.”

“I think you need to learn how to put yourself first.”

“Dylan says the same thing, so does Chucky and Connor. It’s probably the only thing those two will ever agree on. I know… I know Connor worries about me. I… He’s very special to me. And… he’s my person. We… we’ve never thought too hard about our relationship. We’ve never crossed the line. But… we’ve gotten very close to more than once. And I think...I think we could… But he’s one of the most important people in my life and I would never do anything to risk losing that.”

“So, you would rather be in a relationship that’s just for the cameras with a guy who can’t seem to decide whether he actually wants to be with you or not than with a guy who thinks you're the best thing in the world.”

“Well...when you put it like that….”

“For what it’s worth… McDavid looks at you like you hung the sun, the moon, and the stars. It’s… it doesn’t look like he can help it.”

Alexandria smiled softly as Mitchie blushed and looked down, her hair falling into her face. Because…. Mitchie knew how Connor looked at her. How Connor had always looked at her. She just… she didn’t realize it was just as clear to everyone else.

“I think… I think I need to have the hard talk with Auston first, though,” Mitchie replied.

“And I will be there afterward if you want with pizza and tequila.”

Mitchie laughed loudly at that and pulled Alexandria into a hug.

“I know it kind of sucks for you,” Mitchie muttered into Alexandria’s hair, “but I’m happy you’re here.”

“You make it suck a little less,” Alexandria replied honestly.

Mitchie giggled and tightened her arms around the other girl. 

“You know,” Mitchie whispered, “one day, I’m gonna get your drunk and get you to spill all the dirty details of your sex life.”

And Alexandria laughed, shoving Mitchie gently until she managed to free herself.

27.

Jaden gave Tyler a weary look as they approached the building, Robbi skipping alongside her. They were led to a private room - Jaden’s only stipulation. She would not do this in front of a bunch of drunk strangers. She ordered herself a Manhattan and Robbi a Cosmo - and Robbi did an amazing job pretending the pink drink was not for her - and settled in for the night that Tyler had planned for them. 

The only reason she had even agreed was because Tyler had been having a hard time and Tyler had needled her into by saying that Jaden could do to be less serious. And Robbi… Robbi would have been left at the hotel by herself since she was barely nineteen and therefore would not be allowed into the club the boys were going to.

“Lighten up, Jade,” Tyler grinned, walking over to the small stage set up in the room, “It’s karaoke, not a strip club.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you found a place that had both,” Jaden replied.

Tyler laughed delightedly at the response and found her first song in the system and grinned as Jaden groaned and hid her face in her hands when the intro started and Robbi giggled at the reaction.

“I hopped off the plane at LAX with a dream in my cardigan,” Tyler started the song, staring down Jaden, dancing around on the stage as she went through the first verse.

Reaching the chorus, Tyler stepped down off the stage and held the microphone out to Jaden, who sighed, downed the rest of the drink, and grabbed the microphone and picked up the chorus as Tyler absolutely lit up.

“That video better not appear anywhere, Thomas,” Jaden’s eyes narrowed as she and Tyler finished the song.

Robbi just shot her the smile that got her out of everything and Jaden rolled her eyes.

+

“Tonight was fun,” Tyler said as they walked outside a couple hours later, “thank you for doing this.”

“You needed it,” Jaden replied, “and we have a pact, right?”

“I’m gonna hug you now,” Tyler grinned, grabbing the shorter girl and hugging her tightly.

“I’m always here for you,” Jaden whispered, “Anything you need.”

“Tongue thing?” Tyler smirked.

“I’m gonna kill Jonathan for telling you about our sex life.”

“I’m just saying, if you two ever want to have a threesome, I’m more than happy to volunteer.”

Jaden rolled her eyes in response and looped her arm through Robbi’s to pull the younger girl back toward the hotel as Tyler cackled as she got in the Uber.

28.

Claude arrived at Nolan’s to find the younger girl red faced and teary-eyed, hair a complete mess.

“Come on,” Claude’s voice was soft as she entered the apartment.

“I’m not going, G,” Nolan mumbled.

“I’ll help you,” Claude replied, ushering Nolan back to her bedroom, “Go wash your face.”

Claude pulled out the emerald cocktail dress from Nolan’s closet and the black heels. It was just the team, but they were going to a nicer bar and jeans wouldn’t do. And maybe Claude had gotten herself ready a couple hours early because she knew Nolan would have issues.

When Nolan re-emerged, Claude directed her onto the stool in front of the vanity and got to work on her hair, talking Nolan through how to do the style herself. Smiling gently when Nolan’s shoulders relaxed.

After her hair was done, Claude moved onto Nolan’s make-up, purposefully keeping it light before telling Nolan to get dressed.

“You look amazing,” Claude told her when she came out in the dress.

“It’s not too… I mean I don’t wear dresses a lot.” Nolan mumbled.

“It’s sexy but still classy,” Claude replied, “you look beautiful and Teeks won’t know how to react.”

Nolan huffed out a laugh and blushed in response before saying, “Thank you. I…. my sisters and mom would try to teach me girl stuff but… I just… I… thank you.”

“Anytime, kid,” Claude replied, “Now, let’s go.”

29.

Mitchie was known for her smile. It was big and bright and always there. But lately it seemed to be wavering and Alexandria needed to fix it.

Their next night off fell in New York City, so she told Mo that she and Mitchie wouldn’t be joining the team when they went out.

“Alexandria,” Mitchie whined, “just tell me where we’re going.”

“We’re going dancing,” Alexandria replied, barely managing to keep a smile hidden as Mitchie squealed and hugged her.

“You hate clubs.”

“But you like them and you look like you could use a night out.”

Mitchie grinned, already starting to look better, lighter and happier than Alexanderia had seen her in a couple of weeks.

30.

Robbi stood on the bench, watching Jaden push herself. Everyone else had left already. Schenner, Pear, ROR, Borts, and Steener had all tried and failed to get her to hang it up for the night. She took a deep breath and stepped back onto the ice, picking up speed and managing to steal the puck from the older woman before she was noticed and felt extremely proud of herself.

“What are you still doing here?” Jaden asked after she stole the puck back and put it in the net.

“Your bad habits are rubbing off on me,” Robbi grinned in response.

Jaden gave the younger girl a look before saying, “You should go home for the day. You went hard at practice.”

“So did you,” Robbi responded, “O’Ry isn’t even here anymore. And Steener made that Worried Dad face when he was leaving so, you know, he’s probably waiting for you at your place.”

“And that’s supposed to encourage me to leave?”

“Okay, let’s try this. I score on you, you leave. You score on me, I leave you to stay here however long you want.”

“Fine.”

A little over three minutes later, Robbi managed to get past Jaden and get the puck in the net.

“Nice move,” Jaden panted.

“Learned it from you.” Robbi grinned, catching her breath.

“Alright,” Jaden sighed, “a deal’s a deal.”

“Wanna get lunch?”

Jaden huffed out a laugh and agreed.

31.

“What’s that look?” Nicke asked, eyes sharp as she took in Mitchie. Willy had dragged the young woman along with him to dinner on their first roadie to Washington.

“What look?” Mitchie asked, hugging herself and looking around for Willy - who had disappeared with Ovi and the dogs.

“Willy mentioned you were having some issues but this,” Nicke gestured to the loose sweatshirt Mitchie was wearing, “is not it.”

Mitchie sighed, “I’m not…”

“Look, I am not great at this kind of chat, I’ve had to teach myself how to have them Claude-Marie over the years, so we’re gonna make this quick,” Nicke sighed, looking like she was bracing herself, “Dress how you want to dress. If wearing flabby clothes makes you happy, then continue - but get rid of that sweatshirt in particular. It’s awful.”

Mitchie let out a laugh and felt herself start to smile, the nerves lessening.

“Seguin can give you the names of some designers that specialize in petite clothes,” Nicke continued.

“I will,” Mitchie nodded, “thanks.”

“No problem.”

Before they could say anything else, WIlly bounded back into the room, chattered at Nicke a mile a minute. And Mitchie caught a glimpse of Ovechkin, leaning against the archway and smiling as softly as he watched the Swedes interact.

32.

Robbi met Nolan at a park close to where the Flyers were staying, bundled up with her hot chocolate and smiling broadly as he handed Nolan the coffee she had picked up.

They didn’t have long but still wanted to be able to catch up. So they walked around, the cold not really registering, and talked about everything that had happened since the last time they had gotten to see each other.

And Nolan forgot that Robbi Thomas somehow always made her feel lighter. She found herself smiling and laughing as easily as she did with Travis. 

Robbi let out a happy little sound as snow started to fall, flinging her arms out and spinning around, head thrown back.

“Come on, Patty!” Robbi giggled.

And Nolan shook her head, snapped a picture of Robbi, and huffed out a laugh, letting Robbi talk her into one spin.

Later she posted the picture of Robbi on Insta, along with a selfie of the two of them - pink cheeked, snow in their hair, Robbi giggling and Nolan smiling, feeling much better than she had when she had left the hotel.


End file.
